Senior Technical Advisor, Emergency Health

Senior Technical Advisor, Emergency Health

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The IRC's Emergency Unit (EmU) leads or oversees IRC's global emergency preparedness and response activities. The mission of the EmU is to help meet the immediate survival needs and reduce suffering in conflict or disaster affected populations during the acute phase of an emergency, as well as enhancing the IRC's emergency preparedness and readiness capacity. EmU also works in protracted emergencies, where the risk to life may be reduced but the population is still subjected to rights abuses and a lack of basic services.

The Senior Technical Advisor, Emergency Health (STA) ensures the strategic, technical, and quality delivery of IRC's emergency health programming, spanning primary and targeted secondary care, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support, WASH, and outbreak preparedness and response. This role steers the strategic direction and technical leadership of IRC's emergency primary healthcare, nutrition, and environmental health programming, while also supporting the development of tools, resources, and guidance to strengthen field implementation.

A key focus of the role is the management and capacity development of IRC's emergency health teams, including the Emergency Response Team (ERT) and Global Surge Team (GST), through mentorship, professional development planning, and timely recruitment. Reporting jointly to the Senior Director for Quality in Emergencies and the Deputy Director of the Health Unit, the STA collaborates closely with EmU and Health Unit leadership, technical advisors, and sectoral focal points. Success in this role requires deep expertise in emergency public health, strong leadership in complex settings, and a people-centered approach that fosters team engagement and well-being. Lived experience and contextual knowledge of IRC's operating regions are highly valued.

Major Responsibilities

Emergency Response (40%)

• Provide solid technical and strategic leadership for the initiation and quality delivery of new classified emergencies and outbreaks per the QiE technical assistance model.
• Provide response support, technical leadership, and strategic direction to the health ERT.
• Ensure program quality, accountability, and consistency in emergency & outbreak response programming by providing remote and on the ground technical support for country program-led responses and ERT/EST and GST during deployments.
• Directly supervise ERT & GST coordinators, providing ongoing mentoring and technical strengthening during and when not deployed for ERT.
• As required, deploy to lead emergency health programming or outbreak response start-up in complex or large-scale emergencies (30% of time and maximum 6 weeks for single deployment). This is inclusive of, but not limited to, responsibilities such as:
• Rapid needs assessments, evaluation efforts, or other accountability support functions;
• Short-term Deputy Direct of Programs (DDP) or emergency leadership roles;
• Technical coordination and strategic leadership within a complex response;
• Provide technical coordination and strategic leadership within a complex response; and ensure a smooth transition of technical assistance for QiE Supported and EmU-led responses to Health Unit Technical Advisors.
• Liaise closely with other appropriate technical advisors and support IRC WatchList countries and countries where the IRC is starting new emergency response programming.
• Champion a culture of effective and respectful partnerships. Promote partner-led programming in line with IRC's "why not partner?" and "partner as equals" approach.
• Work closely with the deployment team to identify appropriate emergency health staff to be deployed to support responses as needed.
• Ensure all emergency health response tools and resources are current and available to response teams.

MEAL, Advocacy, and Strategy (30%)

• Lead development and implementation of the emergency health strategy and framework, working closely with QiE and Health Unit leadership.
• Support development of systems and processes to facilitate the measurement of the impact and quality of IRC emergency and outbreak responses.
• Work with Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) leads in EmU and the Health Unit to ensure appropriate processes and tools are in place during health responses.
• Support the development of integrated programming for emergencies and other more innovative programming areas identified by respective technical units and ERT/EST.
• Ensure IRC is represented in technical forums or networks within respective global sectors as needed and monitor the effectiveness of IRC's participation.
• Contribute to the annual QiE work plan and project prioritization in collaboration with the MEAL team and EmU STAs which is driven by the EmU strategic priorities and Implementation Plan.
• Participate in the QiE Leadership Team to ensure cohesive decision-making and learning.
• Lead cross-collaboration and coordination between EmU QiE and the Health Unit.

Emergency Preparedness (10%)

• Work closely with Health Unit and Regional Technical Leads to identify areas of technical capacity building, operational and systems set up in preparedness for health emergencies in Watchlist Countries.
• Support the emergency response capacity strengthening for members of IRC Country Programs/Regional technical advisors as needed.
• Provide remote and on the ground technical and systems support to watchlist countries, classified country programs/regions for preparedness/readiness/contingency planning, and as needed, deploy for strategic support, including on-site mentoring and technical assistance.
• Reinforce program quality through regular (+/- remote) capacity strengthening and skills-deepening for members of the ERT, EST as well as Technical Unit Advisers, ensuring the ability to operationalize the IRC's emergency strategy and response package.
• Ensure that IRC program models and emergency strategies advance organizational commitments to gender equality outcomes.
• Collaborate with the EmU to maintain deployment capacity on the ERT and GST.
• Lead design and development of integrated/joint program models and approaches in emergencies with relevant STAs for Emergencies within the QiE multi-sector team.
• Manage and maintain current emergency response tools and update them according to industry standards and best practices while also supporting iterative and adaptive learning from ongoing responses.
• Orient all new ERT/EST/GST to Emergency Health in emergencies.

Business Development and Grant Management (10%)

• Provide technical support for development of emergency response proposals, working closely with other EmU colleagues, ERT and GST.
• Lead the development, review, and submission of strategic proposals and concept notes around IRC's programming related to health in emergencies.
• Provide technical quality assurance for the Crisis Response Fund in coordination with relevant Technical Advisors and EmU Sections.
• Provide oversight of TU-led emergency response and preparedness grants as needed.
• Ensure appropriate budget allocation for IRC to support partners in alignment with the overall response / program design.

People Management and Development (10%)

• Provide day to day line management to members of the health ERT as well as GST when they deploy for emergencies (working in close collaboration with their deployment managers).
• Ensure that ERT and GST teams maintain high performance, collaborate effectively and are accountable for quality of work.
• Build team capacity through coaching, mentoring, and targeted development opportunities, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth.
• Empower team members by setting clear, measurable goals and responsibilities that align with shared organizational initiatives and strategic priorities.
• Champion inclusive and supportive leadership practices in line with People Manager Standards, promoting psychological safety, equity, and wellbeing across the team.

Team Culture

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with EmU colleagues and continually promote a culture of partnership and collaboration.
• Cultivate and maintain a positive, inclusive, safe and caring work environment, while additionally setting an example of 'One IRC'-way of working within the team, EmU and the wider organization.
• Advance efforts across EmU to promote gender equality, diversity and more inclusive practice across our programming and our ways of working.
• Engage in effective power-sharing practices and ensure colleagues have the knowledge, support, and power to do their work with autonomy.

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